


"Harsh Light of Day" commentary

by yourlibrarian



Series: Convention Write Ups [4]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: Author Commentary, Conventions, Episode: s04e03 The Harsh Light of Day, Gen, Nonfiction, Transcribed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-19 06:21:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29870460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourlibrarian/pseuds/yourlibrarian
Summary: Panels at the James Marsters Con at the Queen Mary in Long Beach.
Relationships: Harmony Kendall/Spike
Series: Convention Write Ups [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2196066
Kudos: 2
Collections: March Meta Matters Challenge





	"Harsh Light of Day" commentary

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted September 13, 2006

We headed back down for the commentary with Jane, Mercedes and James. There was a bit of a hitch at the beginning as the DVD started playing but with no sound. Whether or not this was what caused the DVD to be restarted I don't know, but instead of restarting on HLoD, the menu went to the other episodes. This prompted a rather funny process of the cursor going from one wrong item to the next and the audience calling out "Yes!" and "No!" until the DVD operator finally got it right and restarted the episode. There was no sound though during either of the commentaries.

Jane mentioned she was happy she'd gotten the assignment to write this ep as it had a lot of juicy scenes. Normally she'd be happy to be getting just one or two of these important character or relationship moments, but the episode was full of them.

JM said this was still an above average season, quality TV. JE said how great was it that Aly was finding success in "How I Met Your Mother".

JM pointed out that the band playing in the Bronze is actually Four Star Mary. He also felt sorry for the actor playing Parker because "when you kiss Sarah you should have to clean your teeth." The guy was a smoker and never brushed or anything before going into the kiss. Sarah may have overreacted a bit about it but she just hated him for that.

JE said we can tell that Buffy is just not ready for a new guy yet post-Angel.

JM said that Aly looked silly in her fuzzy coat but it was Oz's so that was cool. (Was it? What made him think it was?)

JE asked Mercedes if the vamp make-up was uncomfortable, and I think she said it wasn't that bad. Throughout the episode fans cheered most all of Harmony's appearances onscreen.

JM said that Xander's juice box moment (which he saw in the credits) was one of his favorite from the show, and it was just a great gag. He didn't realize it was from this episode. JE said that she had done that herself with a juice box, and put it in. She was surprised that it was in the credits given the scene only appeared in this episode. JM added that he loved Anya's lines to Xander in that scene.

After some silence, watching, JM said he was trying to think of what to say, and then launched into the discussion of how this was his first season and he had just been almost-fired (which actually wasn't the case as "Doomed" was still several episodes ahead). 

JE: "We'd heard you were very unhappy."

JM: Had gotten some questions or comments from the crew saying they thought his cat had died. But no, it was fine. "Don't joke in a make-up trailer in Hollywood." He told the whole Spike as Urkel story.

JE: Parker was originally to be Harper, but since Harmony was also in the episode they had to change it or the call sheets would be too confusing. So she ran some other names by Joss and a new one was chosen. Jane added that if she had known she was going to be doing this she would have reviewed the episode ahead of time and would know what to say. She was very happy with some lines such as Anya's "put you behind me." That was a "discovered joke" where she realized later what she'd written and thus added to it.

JM talked about how Emma played scenes so straight, Anya could get away with saying so much.

JE talked about the ending scene and how the whole episode was all about Angel, and Buffy trying to get over him, and how if the end lines hadn't been cut "We'd have gotten a lot fewer letters about 'why did you make Buffy a slut'?"

JM: "Did you really? She was just trying to get over having her heart broken." He said he felt sorry for Riley, who was the sacrificial lamb. Commenting on his argument with Harmony he said he was so mean to her in this episode, he thought he lost the audience.

JE: We didn't know how sympathetic Harmony was going to be, they'd thought everyone would be on Spike's side on this one, that Harmony was an "irritating trollop." She was so much more real than was ever expected.

JM: "I never had to play irritability" (just as Spike stomps over to Harmony in exasperation!)

MERCEDES: It was a really gnarly situation between these two people, and that scene really upset me on an emotional level.

JE: Joss told her to rewrite the Buffy/Parker scene "'so that I, Joss Whedon, fall in love with Parker.' So you do that with more jokes."

JM: "So that's how you get Joss' heart." As the Buffy/Spike confrontation at the frat house started he commented on how this was his first day on set for S4 and Sarah was joking around, saying "This is MY show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, mine, not yours." So JM said, "Not yet." And the crew just went "Oooooooo" and it was quiet on the set for 15 seconds. He said he was just joking too, because she was setting the bar so high he had to knock it down.

JE: Commenting on the Xander/Anya and Spike/Harmony scenes she said "This whole scene is fanfic. I take characters I see on TV and write porn for them." Then "We had a lot of discussions if the dress would come off that fast."

JM: The dress comes off that fast because it's funny. JE then explained what sort of dress it was, easy to come undone. Then she said she wrote the "all these veins" line because the make-up people always put a lot of veins on the vamps and you could never see it on film, so she drew attention to it.

JM: Discussing the term "Amarra" said that the first person on film who had to say a new word got to define how it was said. "Has anyone got the word first? No? Good." Regarding being shirtless he said "that was back when I was a cheap whore." Then he noted how the make-up people created scars all over his body. 

JE: "What makes this scene work is --"

(At that bit Spike crawled up on the bed and the audience burst out laughing. I think Mercedes was really embarrassed by the scene).

JM: "Nick Brendon is going to be in a sitcom at some point and he will be the next Seinfeld." He said Nick's recent play was fabulous. 

JE: Talking about how each of these relationships had odd problems.

JM: "When I came on set everyone was reeling from Faith," they were downbeat because Eliza wasn't on set anymore and apparently was well liked.

JE: We had to build up Parker because we wouldn't care about the relationship ending if we weren't invested in him.

JM: Did you guys know there was going to be more about Harmony on AtS?

JE: It's odd to see the way dancing is filmed. The music is turned off for the dialogue so that all these people are dancing to no sound. She then noted that Parker would widen his eyes randomly so that he looked intermittently intense.

JM: I would practice closing my eyes slightly to create a more menacing quality. I used to practice it in the bathroom mirror. It works for Clint Eastwood. 

JE: Asked if for actors you just have to pick one eye and look at it, would you learn little tricks like that. 

JM: He said yes otherwise you look indecisive. Michael Caine gave advice to rip off tics from other people. One piece of advice was to run towards a camera slowly to allow it to focus on your face, then speed past it as fast as you can to give the illusion of speed.

MERCEDES: Discussed how scripts were often full of words she didn't know or which were hard to say and she was relieved when she could get them all out.

JE: Discussing the morning after with Parker, it was a hard scene to write, about Buffy getting her clothes, revealing the second meaning of the title, along with bringing Spike into the day.

JM: Buffy looking for her pants was one of her most human moments. Actors do minutiae, writers do bigger things, but small things actors do can resonate.

JE: Discussed how amazing it was seeing actors make something look like what it's supposed to be, "sometimes you find something in a line I didn't intend." She talked about how writers really don't know what actors do, the craft involved in their work.

JM: Said up to this point he kept trying to do things "right" but sometime in S4 it became effortless, he got better when he stopped planning.

At this point the DVD feed cut out and we were left with a blank screen. So JM dragged his chair around to face the audience and some general discussion continued.

JM: He always wanted the audience to be on Harmony's side. Spike had always been so nice to Dru even though "she picked the tall guy" and he was "obviously taking it out on Harmony."

MERCEDES: Discussed how James was approached by the wardrobe people to ask what he wanted to wear for a sex scene they were doing (which I think was actually the one in S5) and she thought it was rather wrong of them to ask him that when she was right there. Given the choice of boxers, boxer briefs or a jockstrap James said "I'll need all three."

JM: "Can you imagine having something on your body that will be a cue to how you're feeling?" Talked about the quote by George C Scott who apologized in advance to his leading lady in case he got an erection during a love scene or in case he didn't.

JE: Then talked about how a writer could make characters do anything they wanted. "I do it for you guys!" (the fans)

JM: "I knew it!" Then talked about how on BtVS you never knew what you'd be doing from one week to the next.

JE: Talked about how the writers would think Joss would like something they've done and he always comes in with something surprising and shocking. "This week we're going to do a show all about Jonathan."

JM: Tried to accept Joss' way of thinking. It seemed to be that whatever the audience was expecting, whatever was the usual thing to do in a situation, he would 180 it.

JE: "But then it would be out of character" (if you always did something the opposite of what was expected).

JM: So often he could usually tell where something was going but not with Joss' writing.

JE: Talked about the art of the mislead, knowing where Buffy was going emotionally was the important thing and letting the audience think otherwise about the outcome.

JM: Returned to talking about how Riley had been set up to take the romantic fall so that he would leave a clean slate for Spike to be with Buffy. He asked Joss if he realized that was what he had done and Joss said, (in a knowing voice) "Oh I don't know James, maybe unconsciously?." He goes on to talk about how he didn't like the chip. He wanted to make the character choose to be good, not be forced into it.

JE: The writers wanted Spike on a strong leash so that they would have time to build a relationship up between Spike and Buffy. "Then you can do it."

JM: Never thought that Buffy would go for it.

JE: You need to set the goal far in the future, then set the chess pieces in motion. Joss would know that well in advance and then would build in things earlier in the season that would lead up to that point, the question being how to make the outcome seem right?

JM: He wants Joss to do another series. He knows that movies are great and you can make lots of money and get yourself well positioned. Joss is great at intertwining plot threads. West Wing had those too.

JE: Also prefers to watch TV to movies for that reason.

I think it was at this point that the MC announced that the bulb had burned out on the projector and they would have to wait until someone could come in with a replacement to keep going. The three actually got up to leave the stage when Buffy suddenly appeared on the screen. So they went to sit back down to see if they could keep going.

JE: If this is all we have, I'm not sure I can do much with this.

JM: I thought the hair department did a great job.

JE: I was amazed how much time we spent talking about the actors' hair. Joss said we would never see James' natural hair color on this show. Then when Doug wrote FFL where we see William we thought maybe, but no.

The episode continued on at this point, and the scene where Buffy returns to her room to meet with Giles and Willows plays. Himber interrupted to ask if everyone watching planned to go to dinner right afterwards. When people said yes, he said he'd have dinner held back a bit as they were running overtime so that things would still be ready when the commentary finished.

JM: Comments on Willow's cute bandaid, and JE says she wrote that into the script. 

In the next scene Harmony is saddened by Spike's meanness and the audience "Awwwww"'s loudly. JM says "Point, set, match, Harmony!"

JE mentioned that the Sunnydale High Yearbook that was created ended up becoming a resource as the writers would often draw names from it. They went back to discussing how the audience had to care about Parker, and JM said that there is only heartbreak if the audience is fooled along with Buffy and loves him a bit. JE said Parker was such a college type, everyone knows a guy who is so charming and then he's gone. Then they went back to discussing how the term Amarra had been chosen and Jane said she'd been purposely trying to avoid the K's and Z's that tended to be used for demons and new terms.

JM: Then said that a study discussed in Omni magazine said that for those who didn't know the language, the prettiest sounding word was "diarrhea."

JE wanted the discovery scene to have Harmony have a number of items on, and Spike would have to go through each of them to discover which one the Gem actually was, but they didn't have time for it.

JM mentioned that the most dangerous stunt he had to do was to drop through the hole in the floor because it wasn't that large and if he misjudged he could hit his chin on the edge and be badly hurt. He then complimented Mercedes on doing it as well. She seemed surprised to hear the stunt was risky.

JE said that in the scene where Oz admires Giles' record collection that anything music related was always put in there by Joss because she knew nothing about it.

JM and JE then discussed the first Buffy stunt double, Sofia Crawford, only they couldn't remember her name and kept calling her Sonya. JM said she was a great stuntwoman and that when she left she had to be replaced by three different people because she could do it all. JE mentioned that her boobs were bigger than Sarah's so it seemed every time Buffy would start fighting her boobs would enlarge. JM was incredibly amused by this and started acting out boob thrusts.

During the Parker and Buffy confrontation scene JM said that heartbreak was easy to overplay and it was done well here. JE said that Marti was incredibly good at writing those sorts of scenes. JE remembered before she came on the show seeing the scene in "Nightmares" where Buffy's father tells her how disappointing she was and JE remembers crying over the scene. Regarding the way Parker makes it all seem so reasonable JM pointed out that "in men's defense, women do this to guys too." JE then started talking about how there really weren't any differences between men and women and a study on gender research had discovered that the most crucial factor in study results was the gender of the researcher. 

As the Buffy/Spike fight scene was going on JE talked about how furious Joss was when he saw the scene because the whole point was that Spike could be in the light and a lot of the fight took place in shadows because the scene had to be shot late in the day. JM said he'd often heard about Joss being angry but he'd never actually seen it himself. Then he said something about Joss complimenting him, but I'm not sure what that was in regards to. It might have been in regards to how he was trusted to work with the stunt woman in the scene. However in discussing Jane's dialogue for Spike in that scene JM said to JE "I'd hate to break up with you, you'd get yours, wouldn't you?" Then as Spike disappeared down the manhole cover he said that if Spike ever got dignity you knew the show would be on the wrong track.

JE then said she'd forgotten what had happened with the ring and hoped it hadn't been destroyed because it was such a useful thing. JM and the audience had to remind her it went over to Angel, who did destroy it and JM told the David Boreanaz car accident story. During the filming of "In the Dark", DB got rear-ended on his way to work the day he had to film being chained up in the warehouse. He had to be chained all day and was in a lot of pain from the accident but soldiered on. JM seems to like bringing that up often to praise DB.

JE said they should have cut the fight scene down instead of the end dialogue. JM pretended sadness, "Oh, the story..." JE said that Joss had the idea for the triangular walk by the three women and had wanted an overhead shot like from a helicopter and it hadn't come out quite like it was planned. 

JM then said something about how it was the moment he loved Buffy the most (seeing her heartbroken? Not too clear on this). He then talked about how he had a sibling relationship with Sarah, who he loved but also drove him crazy.

On a different note, I was playing around with some con photos and put together some icons from the panel. I decided to post them here on the off chance anyone wants a frame.

,,,


End file.
